Creating Accessible Web Sites

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Penn State Policy

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Penn State Policy AD-54 and Section 508

The most current information on Penn State Accessibility policy is available from Access P.S.U.

The Penn State Policy AD-54 "Web Page Design and Image" has been revised to require accessibility accommodations in Penn State Web sites matching thise Section 508 guidelines mandated for federal government Web sites.

AD-54 Policy and Accessibility

To quote from policy AD-54:

Web Markup Standards: Site administrators should integrate W3C and Section 508 standards into site planning and design.
Accessibility: The University's policy is to be compliant with Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act Amendments of 1998.
- New Web pages and sites should comply, to the extent possible allowed by current technology, with Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act Amendments of 1998, the Web-based intranet and Internet information and applications (1194.22) http://www.access-board.gov/sec508/508standards.htm. Current pages and sites should be evaluated and developers should implement a timely program to address major flaws, using current best practices and professional judgment.

References to Section 508 Guidelines will be mentioned when relevant to discussing different HTML tags and tools.

NOTE: The LIFT Dreamweaver plug-in available from the Penn State Computer Store can check a Web site in terms of compliance with Section 508.

Other Penn State Web Site Requirements

The Penn State AD 54 policy also requires all Web sites to provide contact information and proper placement of the Penn State logo. See the Penn State Web Style Guide for details.

Penn State Accessibility

Access P.S.U. (http://www.equity.psu.edu/access_psu) - Includes Penn State policy and LIFT instructons.
Assistive Technology in Student Computing Labs (http://clc.its.psu.edu/assistivetech/)
College of Education Tutorial

Assistive Technology Labs

Library Services for Persons with Disabilities - Includes a wide range of assistive technology options
Assistive Technology in Student Computing Labs
Boucke 115 - This facility is only available to students who are registered with the Office of Disability Services.

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Other Accessibility Guidelines

Although Penn State has elected to require compliance with Section 508 guidelines for official Penn State Web pages, you should be aware that other guidelines have been developed, some with more or different provisions.

The other major guideline cited by usability experts is the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines ( WCAG). The guidelines for the WCAG are divided into three priority levels, with Level 1 being the most critical guidelines and Level 3 the least critical.

In addition, many countries are implementing their own national guidelines. If your Web site is housed in or substantially interacting with a particular nation, you may want to check their guidelines in addition to Section 508 guidelines.

Finally, individual colleges, departments or units may require additional accessibility guidelines.

Next: Section 508 Guidelines

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